The Archers - Freddie is getting OUT: will Russ hop it? Helen is falling DOWN: is Lee still in the frame? Tom is heading UP: will Natasha be the boost his sausage needs? (Thread no. 101

[DadDadDad]

We're still here and still discussing TA (The Archers). We welcome newcomers and old hands, so if you have a question or a point of view, please dive in. No spoilers - if you've seen info on future storylines, there's a separate Radio Addicts thread for that.

I loved all the name changes on the last thread. Don't forget to change back! (If you want to).

Who's going to get Russ out of LL? Freddie? Lily? Elizabeth? Or is it Freddie who will head off?

EBear yes, I heard the ep where he discussed his role.....but he didn't do it very well, clearly!

Sorry, posted too soon......should have added, what I meant to say was that he just had a limp general discussion but didn't nail them down to a proper undertaking regarding his role. He shouldn't have let the business go until he was completely assured about that. Not wait until a conversation in the tea rooms and suddenly realise with a terrible sinking feeling that he was going to have to hit targets and sign up to acres of unbearable jargon

George washing curtains, or dry cleaning them, can be a very costly and annoying business especially if you have big windows, and heavy expensive ones which they could well do in Lower Loxley even in Freddie's room.

I think what is difficult for Alistair is going from being his own boss to being told what to do. In his mind he was imagining life would be easier being relieved of the ultimate responsibility for the business as he wound down towards retirement, continuing to work with his old clients, but without all the business admin. He rather naively thought Lovell James would allow him to run his own show and that his seniority would count for something where in fact it is the opposite.

Oh I noticed in the film that Pip actually suggested to Toby that he tells Jill about, whisper,

washing curtains, or dry cleaning them, can be a very costly and annoying business especially if you have big windows, and heavy expensive ones ...

Which is precisely why her housekeeper would have arranged for such cleaning, if it were needed, as part of the regular routine of household upkeep. Surely these huge, expensive (heirloom tapestry/damask?) curtains aren't being shoved in the domestic washing machine by Lizzie and hung out to dry by Russ? (I wanted to strangle him when he was talking about schoolboys going off the rails ...)

Wasn't Russ supposed to be sleeping in Freddie's room? So presumably he has now moved into Lily's room?

I know they're trying to do lots of things at once with the LL story - but so many of the conversations are just wrong.

@LillianGish

More likely Lovell James would have had the conversation with Alastair first and decided not to make him an offer when they realised how unwilling he was to do practice development/upselling. His statement about “My only objective is to give the best possible care to the animals” was laughable, the sort of thing a 12 year old who wanted to be a vet would say, before having the reality of the business explained to them by a kindly mentor.

Increasingly, I am finding that I have to take a deep breath and remind myself it is just drama/entertainment rather than a genuine attempt to reflect real life.

There's no way on this earth that any of my curtains (all lined; some interlined as well ) could be bunged in either a domestic or professional washing-machine.

We once needed to have a pair of curtains dry-cleaned for this very reason. They weren't especially huge but it cost over £80. And that was more than 15 years ago.

I'm not inclined to believe that Freddie's curtains are single layers of flimsy material. Or that Lizzie suddenly decides they MUST be washed a day or two before he comes home. What a mad SL.

(And yes: 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜 🐜)

My curtains have not been washed since they were made 14 years ago.

Some even longer ago.

Actually ... it may have been Roy who mentioned Kathy. I recall the voice sounded miserable ...

Has Lizzie got a housekeeper George? She should have, of course, but we never hear of one.

Yes, it was Roy. He was explaining to Tom why he couldn't go to the wedding.

Eileen Titcombe (formerly Pugsley) — housekeeper at Lower Loxley. Known for many years as just 'Mrs Pugsley', until her marriage to Titcombe.

Wiki list of Archers characters. I'm sure she would have retired by now, but there's no reason to think she wouldn't have been replaced. (Or her duties split between particular staff.)

For what it’s worth Pusscat, yours was my favourite name change.

Lillian, Silvery - that was pretty good, but in my mind it was pipped by LexysMidnightRunners - that really tickled me for some reason.

Full roll call here: www.mumsnet.com/Talk/radio_addicts/3510091-ONE-HUNDRED-NOT-OUT-come-here-to-mark-The-Archers-threads-a-MN-phenomenon?pg=8

Anyway, a question I asked upthread that I don't think got answered: do David and Ruth know what Rosie's middle name is?

Thank goodness others have confessed to slapdash curtain washing habits, I was beginning to worry I had once again failed one of the many MN cleaning rules.
I think if I was Alistair s manager I would find his approach quite irritating.

I hope if I were Alastair's 'manager' I would back off gracefully and show the poor man some respect!

DadDadDad I don't think they do know. I could imagine words would have been had (dramatic tone) if they had.

And yes, another confected drama with Toby not revealing the middle name to Jill, due to a conversation not being completed. I've complained about this so many times: you know, when a character starts to confess something vital, but is ignored because the other person is busy answering the phone or whatever. In real life you'd say, "sorry this is important", or "we need to speak urgently", rather than slinking off leaving the matter hanging.

The whole Alistair affair is bizarre. He's shifted from wet blanket, to hearty marathon runner standing up to his prospective boss, to being patronised by farmers young enough to be his children, to being pushed around by his boss again. Is this inconsistent writing, or the writers having no appreciation of how the real world works?

Also, when Leonard and Toby had that conversation, are we really to believe that Leonard lacked the curiosity to ask the obvious: "why? what is the middle name?"

We could then have been treated to Leonard innocently saying to Jill, "Toby somehow thinks you'd be upset by the middle name, but it's Grace, so I'm a bit baffled what anyone would have against such a classic name..."

I'd love it to turn out that Grace was the name of Leonard's late wife!!

Anybody here read the blog The Ambridge Observer? It's quite amusing.

This week's has a picture of Toad, of Toad Hall, in relation to Freddie driving home! There's also an agony column called Ask Aunty Satya, with letters from both Tom and Natasha, and there's a letter from Shula. Aunty Satya's reply is fun!

Hoping this doesn't count as an attempt to derail the thread

@WheresThatCatGoneNow

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Yes, DDD, we could have Leonard making her seem some sense about an old grudge that is well past its sell-by date.

Yes Motoko, I even subscribe to email updates. It’s just hit my in-box. It’s such clever satire.